Kok wins praise for resignation

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok earned praise and sympathy for resigning with all his government in atonement for the Srebrenica massacre of 6,000 Muslim men and boys.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ad van Baal, 55, the second highest ranking officer in the Dutch army at the time of one of the worst atrocities since World War II, became another high profile departure on Wednesday after an official report blamed political and military leaders for the debacle.

"He resigned today. Since the report, he sees that he can no longer be in charge of the army. People in parliament and the press have called for his resignation," Mike Meyburg, a spokesman for the Dutch Defence Ministry, told Reuters.

"The report does not show him responsible for Srebrenica, but he agrees that he is not doing the army any service by staying," Meyburg said.

The defence ministry also announced an inquiry into other military staff who may have misled ministers and the public.

MORE STORIES • Kok: Man of the people falls to Earth  • Q&A: Wim Kok's dramatic departure    EXTRA INFORMATION In-depth: Netherlands Decides 2002     IN-DEPTH Srebrenica: Five days of evil   • Survivor's Story   • Gallery   • Massacre background   • Rebuilding Srebrenica   • Prayers for the dead   • Grief of the widows   • Mass grave found   • War crimes defendants   • Profile: Radko Mladic   • Profile: Radovan Karadzic   RESOURCES NIOD Report Summary

The report from the Netherlands' Institute for War Documentation (NIOD) had concluded that van Baal's predecessor intentionally withheld information from government officials during the Srebrenica massacres to preserve the army's reputation.

Later on Wednesday, Kok faced questioning in parliament about his decision to resign over criticism in the report of the government he led in 1995.

The Kok government will carry on as caretakers until after elections previously scheduled for next month -- though Kok had already said he would stand down then.

Kok said on Tuesday the international community "is anonymous and cannot take responsibility" for botching its Bosnia peacekeeping operation. "I can and I do," he said.

However, he said the Netherlands did not "accept blame for the gruesome murder of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in 1995, only partial political responsibility for the circumstances in which they happened."

Blame lies with Gen. Ratko Mladic, who was the head of the Bosnian Serb forces then, Kok said.

The 7,000-page NIOD report said the Dutch battalion in Srebrenica stood by while Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic evacuated thousands of men from the Dutch camp and drove them off to their deaths.

There will be a full parliamentary inquiry at which former ministers and commanders will be called to testify under oath. No date has yet been set.

"I see a parliamentary inquiry as an instrument to find the truth," said Ad Melkert, Kok's successor as Labour Party leader.

Reaction in the Dutch media was mixed. Leading Dutch daily Financieele Dagblad described said the move as an empty gesture by a crippled coalition limping toward almost certain defeat at the polls on May 15.

The centre-left coalition between Kok's PvdA Labour Party, VVD liberals and centrist D66 is performing poorly in opinion polls with maverick anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn bidding to help form a new center-right government after the election.

Fortuyn, seen as a rising force in the polls, criticised Kok for "walking away from responsibilities."

The London Financial Times was more generous.

"The Dutch government has finally done what no other Western government has had the courage to do: accept a share of responsibility for the bloodshed in the Bosnian wars of the 1990s," the newspaper said.

In Bosnia itself, the Dutch cabinet's decision to tender its resignation earned some plaudits. Bosnia's Foreign Ministry described it as an "act of morality" that should spur a closer look at the international community's role in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

"This will provide comfort and relief to suffering of thousands of surviving mothers, sisters and cousins of Srebrenica victims," the Bosnian arm of the Society for Threatened Peoples said.

The Netherlands, with a tradition of providing sanctuary to persecuted religious minorities, gained a reputation in the wake of Nazi occupation in World War Two for pragmatic humanitarian diplomacy.

The country also enjoys its role as a centre for international justice and host to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, currently trying ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic for genocide in the Balkans in the 1990s.

"I think most people will admire Wim Kok for his decision. It was a courageous but necessary step," Gerrit Hagelstein, professor of public administration at Utrecht University, told Reuters.

"Honesty and... being held accountable for your response is a very important value in Dutch democracy," he said.

The mass-circulation De Telegraaf said that the modest and widely respected Kok, 63, had burst into tears in private when he read the Srebrenica report several weeks ago. The paper carried a photograph of a somber Kok with his head bowed, arms folded and gaze fixed on the ground.

Political analysts said it looked increasingly doubtful whether the coalition could secure a third successive term.

Some saw an underlying reason for the resignation as a desperate bid to win public sympathy before the election.

"The reason for the cabinet's fall is of course not a minor one but cannot be seen apart from some political opportunism," the broadsheet Volkskrant said.